PSOBB on Chromebook?

VS_Power

VS_Power

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~20 years, 2 kids, and a mortgage later, here I am trying to relive those great PSO moments once again!

I'm trying to run PSO on my Chromebook Pixelbook via Linux.

I followed this tutorial to successfully run online.exe on Linux via Wine:
https://www.pioneer2.net/community/threads/linux-tutorial-for-playing-psobb-on-ephinea.9712/

My problem is the game crashes when I hit "Start Game" after a black window briefly appears. Here's what I've tried to fix it already:
  1. Reinstalling the game
  2. Every possible resolution / windowed / graphics setting and combination
  3. Some dgVoodoo thing
Error : Can't find DisplayMode
Error : Can't use format [D3DFMT_X8R8G8B8]

Error : Can't find DisplayMode
Error : Can't use format [D3DFMT_A8R8G8B8]

Specs: https://store.google.com/us/product/google_pixelbook_specs

I know the Pixelbook isn't made for gaming, but I figure this game is so old that it has to run even on a weak and overpriced laptop!!

Thank you for your help in advance!
 
Of course after a week of debugging with no success, I make some good progress right after posting to the forums for the first time XD

The game now no longer crashes when I hit "Start Game". Here's what I did:
  1. Looked up Pixelbook specs and saw the screen is 2400x1600
  2. Opened resolution.ini and added a 2400x1600 option
  3. Success!
The game runs like crap but I suspect a few more days (weeks) of Googling and I'll make some more progress there.

I'll keep posting solutions I find in this thread in case anyone else on the internet goes through the same in the future, if that's OK.
 
Good playing with ya tonight Ade like old times!! Cya more soon!!

OK the game runs horribly but here are some things that have helped:
  1. Lowering all graphics settings in options
  2. Turning on hyper threading
Gonna keep trying a few things and will add the good ones to this thread.
 
I also enabled "Crostini GPU Support" in Chrome://flags with minimal improvement, though a lot of sites recommend that for general Linux performance on Pixelbook.

With all the above the game is barely playable. Even typing in a lobby is laggy, with every fourth character getting skipped.

Finally I tried installing a "IBOUGHTMYPCFROMWALMART" patch, and the game is generally playable! Typing is smooth enough and most regular runs work fine. The holiday quest lags like crazy, but if I just want to play Caves or something it's playable.

Overall big surprise I guess the Pixelbook really isn't meant for gaming. Maybe if I ever reach a decent level I'll reward myself with a decent setup!
 
One more thing - running on windowed / non-windowed mode didn't change much. But it's nice being able to go back and forth on the latter!
 
Played a little bit more today!

Crater was unplayable even in a game with just 4 people. I was doing some Gov quest (?) and there weren't very many enemies at all. Bummer.

I found a solution that lets me play lag free though!!!!!

I installed it on my Windows computer (lol) and use a free remote desktop app called Parsec. This is a remote desktop app specifically for gaming - it really reduces the lag I felt using other more popular apps such as TeamViewer. I honestly can't perceive any lag at all. And sound works great!

Problem solved!!! See you online folks!!
 
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